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Pope Benedict XVI leaves Bernadin Gantin airport in Cotonou on November 20, 2011, ending his second trip to Africa as pontiff which saw him sign off on a grand vision for the Roman Catholic Church's future on the continent. (Image credit: AFP/Getty Images via @daylife)

Pope Benedict XVI has become the first pontiff to resign since the 15th century. The leader of the world's more than 1 billion Roman Catholic worshippers cited health reasons behind his wish to step down, effective February 28.

The former Cardinal Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger will turn 86 in April.

The pope has reigned through tumultuous times for the church and has been criticized for his lack of robust action in light of the worldwide sexual exploitation of young boys by priests.

In an attempt to appear more in touch with Roman Catholics, the Vatican established Twitter accounts for the pope last December 12th. His main English account, @Pontifex, has over 1.5 million followers as of this posting, a remarkable number for someone who has only posted 34 tweets, seven of which came on his opening day barrage. Interestingly, the pope has only followed himself in his eight other-language accounts. Of note, he did not follow the most-followed Twitter account of Jesus Christ (@jesus) who counts just over a half-million followers.

The first Vatican-sanctioned, English-language tweet from the outgoing pontiff, Pope Benedict XVI.

No indication of his plans to step down was given in the pope's most recent tweet yesterday although Monday morning quarterbacks are could interpret the statement as a proactive request for absolution:

We must trust in the mighty power of God’s mercy. We are all sinners, but His grace transforms us and makes us new.